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- This guy sends 1.5m cold emails per month
Hey,
Imagine this: you're managing over 90,000 email inboxes, sending out 1.5 million cold emails per month, and you're the second most replied-to account on Smartlead (out of 90,000+ users). That’s the game Nick Abraham from Leadbird is playing.
Why Nick is worth listening to
Runs an agency with 200+ active clients
Sends millions of emails, generating thousands of leads monthly
Founded multiple SaaS tools focused on cold emailing
At a time of deliverability crackdowns and a sophistication speed-run of cold email, here’s what Nick suggests:
Your offer makes or breaks your campaign
No surprises: your product and market fit are fundamental. Without an offer that's genuinely compelling, even the best cold emails won't land.
This is why i’m personally not a fan of hiring freelancers or agencies to handle outbound if you haven’t first validated your offer. It often results in failure.
Demand Gen vs. Demand Capture offers
Nick emphasises distinguishing whether your solution is:
Demand Gen: Easier to market via cold email - people aren't necessarily looking but are open to great solutions.
Demand Capture: Harder sell - you must find people already looking for a solution, requiring advanced tactics and deeper personalisation.
Offers that create new demand (Demand Gen) significantly outperform those that capture existing demand (Demand Capture).
Let’s take one of the most saturated agencies as an example: website agency. If you approached this from a demand capture angle of “hey, need a new website?” you’re going to be competing with 10,000 others agencies saying the same thing and your success is dependent on someone magically needing a new website (this means you will need to send a lot of emails).
Whereas a demand gen offer could be a free, industry-specific website audit. This is an attractive, low-risk proposition for the prospect and will get more bites. It acts as a trojan horse for your main service. This can also be referred to a “cold-friendly offer” because it’s suitable for cold traffic.
Simple beats complex (especially at first)
Before scaling, Nick recommends a minimal, straightforward setup for your sending infrastructure:
Apollo for leads
Million Verifier for validation
Smartlead or Instantly for sending
Short, conversational emails under 100 words
Once validated, scale complexity gradually but don’t jump the gun. You do not need a fancy tech stack to get started - it won’t save a bad or unvalidated offer.
Signals for targeted outreach
Not all signals are equal. Nick’s favourite strategies include:
LinkedIn Company Followers: People already interested in competitors.
Competitor Sales Connections: Engage prospects actively speaking to competitors' sales reps.
There are various tools and methods to get these signals.
Optimal metrics
Aim for:
Reply rates: 2-4%
Positive responses: 20-40%
Conversion: 1 lead per 350-500 contacts
Anything lower usually signals deliverability or offer issues.
Infrastructure insights
Nick’s go-to strategy for maintaining email health:
40% Google, 40% Microsoft, 20% SMTP
Rotate inboxes monthly, letting warm-up reset domain reputation
Regularly monitor bounce messages to anticipate and handle deliverability issues early
As your volume grows (beyond 50k emails/month), consider premium infrastructures for efficiency and scale.
Actionable Takeaways:
Test a straightforward CTA: "Is this something you'd be interested in?"
Prioritise simple, conversational copy
Leverage signals smartly - assign high-value leads directly to reps
Diversify your sending domains to avoid being nuked
In a nutshell:
Cold email is far from dead but it has evolved. Nail your fundamentals, leverage signals wisely, and build smart infrastructure.
If you’re looking for something more tactical, you can watch my free 2hr course on cold email.
Cheers,
Liam
P.S.
I’ve helped dozens of B2B startups launch and scale cold outbound motions. Work with me and I’ll help you build from 0-1, hands-on. Chat here.
View client testimonials ($0 to $20m, $1m in 6 mo, 10x in 10mo)